Brownfields 2009 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
               Lewiston, ME
EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states.
communities, and other stakeholders to work together to
prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse
brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the
expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be
complicated by the presence or potential presence of a
hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. In 2002,
the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields
Revitalization Act was passed to help states and
communities around the country cleanup and revitalize
brownfields sites. Under this law, EPA provides financial
assistance to eligible applicants through four competitive
grant programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund
grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants.
Additionally, funding support is provided to state and
tribal response programs through a separate mechanism.

Community Description

The City of Lewiston was selected to receive a
brownfields assessment grant. Located in central Maine,
about 20 miles south of Augusta, Lewiston (population
35,690) has a proud industrial heritage. In its heyday, the
city was a bustling municipality with 13 textile mills in
the downtown area. Today, manufacturing jobs have
moved out of the city, mills have shut down, and
abandoned and underused mill buildings remain. The
city's downtown core, a federally designated Enterprise
Community, contains about six million square feet of mill
space. The downtown area is densely populated. Poverty
and unemployment rates are three to four times higher
than the city, county, and state rates. In recent years, the
city has experienced an influx of Somali refugees, many
of whom live in the downtown community. Brownfield
assessments will help residents understand the potential
threats posed by the sites and help determine cleanup
options. Assessments also are expected to continue the
beneficial results that Lewiston has had in addressing the
environmental stigma associated with brownfields.
                     Assessment Grant

                     $200,000 for hazardous substances

                     EPA has selected the City of Lewiston for a
                     brownfields assessment grant. Community-wide
                     hazardous substances grant funds will be used to
                     conduct six Phase I and five Phase II
                     environmental site assessments in the city's
                     downtown core. Grant funds also will be used to
                     conduct cleanup planning and support community
                     outreach activities.
                     Contacts

                     For further information, including specific grant
                     contacts, additional grant information, brownfields
                     news and events, and publications and links, visit
                     the EPA Brownfields Web site
                     (http://www.epa.gov/brownfields).

                     EPA Region 1 Brownfields Team
                     (617)918-1424
                     EPA Region 1 Brownfields Web site
                     (http://www.epa.gov/regionl/bro wnfields)

                     Grant Recipient: City of Lewiston,ME
                     (207) 513-3126 ext 3233

                     The information presented in this fact sheet comes
                     from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the
                     accuracy of this information. The cooperative
                     agreement for the grant has not yet been
                     negotiated. Therefore, activities described in this
                     fact sheet are subject to change.
  United States
  Environmental
  Protection Agency
  Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 560-F-09-074
      May 2009

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